To Those Who Speak In Riddles
by Surrealshadows
Summary: the earth may say hello but the moon has other ideas. When Aleera 17 almost freezes to death and is brought to the factory, she meets and befriends Charlie. Her odd behavior and distrust of all adults has everyone thinking she’s less than sane. But it’s h
1. cold, its a good thing

Title: To Those Who Speak In Riddles

Summary: the earth may say hello but the moon has other ideas. When Aleera (17) almost freezes to death and is brought to the factory, she meets and befriends Charlie. Her odd behavior and distrust of all adults has everyone thinking she's less than sane. But it's her riddled remarks that awaken the curiosity of a certain chocolate maker…

Disclaimer: to avoid a law suit, which would take up a horrendous amount for my precious time, I will simply say that Willy Wonka and all of those, whom you recognize, do not and never will in any way shape of form, belong to me. I own only Aleera.

Chapter one: cold. It's a good thing

Aleera loved winter, loved the cold and the snow. She loved the way that a few moments of being in the cold could make her completely numb, make her pain and sorrow go away, even if only for an instant. What she did not like was the fact that the place she'd crashed at the night before was more of a whore house than a warm place to stay. Not too fond of being treated like a dog by some rich pimp, she opted to find another place to stay.

Unfortunately, not many people liked the idea of sharing there home with a 17 year old girl who looked like she'd spent the last few months in the cargo hold of a ship, even if that was the case. Pulling her thin jacket tighter around her, she decided that, although sufficiently numbed, she was very much so uncomfortable exposed to the icy wind. Looking around, she brushed her tangled black hair out of her eyes. Through the gusts of wind and snow she saw a large gate in the distance. Logic told her that if she could shield herself from the now blistering cold wind, she'd be alright. As she made her way to the gates, she felt the feeling leave her legs. Losing her balance because of this sudden loss of limb usage, she fell to the ground getting snow in her shirt. Swearing viciously, she crawled the rest of the way to the gate. Leaning against the concrete pillar, she closed her eyes. Aleera had always liked the cold, and now she was going to die in it.

-------------

Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka walked down the street, arms full of groceries.

"Let's walk Willy," Wonka mimicked Charlie "it's a lovely day! And it'll be fun!" he tossed his head from side to side almost causing his hat to fall off his head.

It was true; Charlie had managed to not only convince Willy to come grocery shopping with him, but had even managed to get him to walk. Now, even Charlie had to admit that the later of the ideas hadn't been his best. Never mind that fact that the day _had _started out nice enough.

"I'm sorry Willy ok? How was I supposed to know that it would begin to storm before we got back?" he asked as they approached the gates.

"Well Charlie, I hope you learned something from all of this." stated Willy "and remember this when I tell you no the next time you say lets walk" they stood at the gates and waited for them to open. It was then that Charlie noticed the girl huddled up next to the gate.

"Willy look!" he said pointing at her. Willy looked down at the ½ unconscious form of Aleera who had made a little den out of snow in attempt to help her keep warm. "Hmm. She looks warm enough." Willy said as the gates opened. He started to walk through but Charlie grabbed his arm.

"Willy" he said pleadingly, "we can't leave her"

Willy looked wide eyed at Charlie. "No!" he said sternly "Absolutely not!" he shook his head wildly and grabbed Charlie's shoulder. With a parental like tone he said "Charlie, just because you see something in the street doesn't mean I'm gonna let you keep it." He looked at the girl. "I mean really Charlie, it's filthy. With …germs and such"

"Willy she's not an it she's a she." When Willy didn't respond, Charlie frowned "don't make me use my important voice Willy" he said threateningly.

Willy's eyes grew wide as quarters and he squeaked a little before saying "oh all right. But remember, it's your responsibility, you have to feed it and clean up after it." He then turned to an oompa loompa who had come out to see what was wrong. Gesturing to Aleera, he said, "Why don't you help Charlie with his new pet?" before sweeping past and entering the factory.


	2. Grandma georgina

Chapter 2: Grandma Georgina

Aleera woke up insufferable hot. Gasping at the sudden change in temperature she looked wildly around and found herself not outside, but in a small loft like room. Tossing the pile of blankets on the floor she stood up just as a small boy climbed into the room.

"Hello!" he said brightly. "Do you feel better?" Aleera looked around the room she made a noise in the back of her throat.

"Mmm," was all she said as she processed her new surroundings? _ Such a little boy_ she thought_ his parents will be here too I suppose_. She looked wide eyed at the little boy. "This is a strange place, and not at all where I remember being" taking a step toward him she said "little boy, where am I?"

-----

For someone who seemed so adult like she had such a simple child-like voice. Mused Charlie who had spent the last 10 minutes upstairs with Aleera explaining all about where she was. She seemed to have a hard time processing all of it, or rather, she chose not to. But she was very odd….

His thoughts must have shown on his face because his mother suddenly asked "Charlie dear, what's wrong?" he shook his head. "Aleera," he said "she's really weird."

Mr. Bucket laughed "most teenage girls are." Charlie shook his head again. "No, I mean… I dunno, half the time she doesn't even make sense. Actually, she never makes sense."

"Don't worry Charlie, I'm sure she's just disoriented that's all."

"Charlie!''

Mrs. Bucket called early the next morning. "Mr. Wonka's here for you!"

"I'll be there in a minute" came the reply. For the past 20 minutes he had been trying to get Aleera to come down stairs to eat. He was about to give up when suddenly Aleera jumped off the bed and ran down stairs. She had smelt the food. Charlie ran after her and almost bumped into her when she stopped suddenly at the bottom of the latter. Aleera stood stock still staring wide eyed around the room. There were so many adults! Her breath caught in her chest. She had expected at the most two, but there they were one two three four! Four old people and one who seemed very out of place in the small kitchen. And those were besides Charlie's parents! It took everything in her not to push past Charlie and bolt back up the latter. Gulping, she looked at all of them one by one. Her stare was unnerving, considering the fact that they were two different colors. Blue and green orbs scanned the people in the room. Her eyes rested on Willy Not used to being stared at so openly, Willy laughed nervously and cleared his throat before doing the only thing that came to his mind "good morning star shine, the earth says hello!"

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a thoughtful look. After a moment she opened her mouth and said "the moon wishes that the earth leave her alone as she doesn't like him" the words flowed easily out of her mouth, as though she had been waiting for someone to say that to her. Sitting down next to grandma Georgina, she helped herself to the plate of pancakes that Mrs. Bucket had placed before her. "Humph!" Willy said loudly sitting across from the odd girl. He leaned close to Charlie, "you pet doesn't have very nice manners." He said loud enough for every one to hear.

"Her names Aleera" Charlie said absently, sitting down next to him.

Aleera put her fork down and then placed her chin on steepled fingers. She watched Willy eat, as though he were a mildly interesting television program. She did this for several minutes, causing Willy to become very uncomfortable under her bicolored gaze. Just as he was about to ask her if she had a staring problem she returned to her food. It was then that something very strange happened. Grandma Georgina leaned over and said to Aleera, "the king is going on a picnic with the nave but it's not his birthday!" Aleera looked over at grandma Georgina and smiled saying "but those who play the game right can keep there heads when they beat him."

Grandma Georgina nodded in agreement and said "you smell like salt water!" she laughed delightedly and Aleera continued to smile. "By wind and sea come those who rule the world." Nodding grandma Georgina said "like little plungers!" nodding Aleera turned back to her food.

"Can you understand her?" asked Grandpa George. Aleera looked at him silently for a moment before asking "can you?" her tone made it clear that that was all she was going to say any more for the moment. Charlie looked from person to person. Each had a surprised yet thoughtful look on there face. He knew each was thinking that same thing, _maybe Charlie was right, and maybe she's insane_.

Then quite suddenly Willy jumped up, "come on Charlie! We've things to do!" he grabbed his hat and cane, trying to make a break for the door before- "Willy why don't we show Aleera around?" – That happened. Sighing Willy said "well if you must bring her along"


	3. a glimps of sanity

Chapter three: a glimpse of sanity

She walked through the chocolate room, following silently as Willy explained each and every thing about the room. She listened with a thoughtful expression on her face, but took no real interest in anything but the manner in which Willy spoke. This made her confused; _can't he understand the old woman?_ She thought. Aleera had grown up with only a mother, one who was in an insane asylum. As a child, she had refused to leave her mother's side and so she grew up around strange and insane people. This caused he own mental state to be slightly altered. She wasn't insane, but neither was she sane. Rather, she stood on the border of insanity, able to follow the most random conversations and understand the most insane people. This Willy, as he was called, seems to be on that border as well, yet he seemed utterly lost and confused while she and the woman spoke. Charlie nudged her and she realized that Willy was beginning to notice that she wasn't paying attention.

Giving her an odd look, Willy continued, "and this is my chocolate water fall! It churns the chocolate and makes it light and frothy" he emphasized the statement by gesturing with his hand. He looked at her expectantly and was disappointed yet again as she looked nonchalantly at the falling chocolate. He cleared his throat and tightened his hold on his cane. His purple latex gloves causing a horrible squeaking sound. Aleera spun around to look at Willy curiously. Wide eyed and child like she asked "is something wrong?" he forced a smile "any ways the factory is the only one in the world that mixes its chocolate by waterfall." He giggled and pulled a ladle out of nowhere. Dipping it into the river of chocolate he handed it to her and said "here taste some of this, it'll do ya good."

Reluctantly, she did and then nodded to show that she liked it. The pink seahorse barge came up the river but before Willy could say anything Charlie asked him, "why don't we take the elevator?"

Willy shrugged "ok then…let's boogie!" They climbed into the elevator and Willy pressed a button labeled the inventing room. They whooshed to the left, Willy expected her to fall into him because of the sudden lurch, but she had some how managed to stay on her feet. Both Charlie and Willy looked at her curiously. "Sea legs" she said not looking at either of them, "that's all it takes."

---

They visited several more rooms with little success in interesting Aleera. Willy was dismayed. Everybody loved his candy; everybody loved his factory, why couldn't he even get a gasp out of her! Throughout all the rooms, he'd seen a very logical side of the girl and quite frankly he like her babbling more. Her cryptic and riddle like remarks about every thing was beginning to drive him up the wall. In the hair cream room he'd almost lost it. He'd just shown her what the cream did when she asked "is it edible?"

"Of course" came his rely. But then she had asked "so is it in the hair care isle or the candy isle?" when he told her it wasn't on the market she looked at him and said "a star that shines brightly can feel alone in the spotlight, but the one who revels in solitude shall find himself with no one to share with" arg! He felt like grabbing and shaking her while screaming "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" instead, he settled for looking at her and saying "you're really weird"

They climbed back into the elevator "why don't you pick a room?" suggested Charlie. Aleera shrugged and looked at the buttons. She then pressed the only one without a label. And they were off. Within a matter of minutes what found themselves floating in empty space. Suddenly, fireworks began to shoot off all around them. They continued through the room as other oddities happened all around them. Both Charlie and Willy opened their mouths to explain the room when she turned around. Her eyes were filled with wonder. Black hair danced around her face in neat little curls (the hair cream having cleaned and detangled her hair). "This room," she said in awe "it has no purpose, no meaning," for a moment, Willy thought she was mocking the room when she added softly, "like candy."


	4. shes a bit squirlly

Chapter four: she a bit squirrelly

After the random room break through, Willy became very interested in showing her around. They had discovered that so long as they let her pick the room, they would get more than the nonchalant riddles.

They went back through the inventing room and the whipped cream room. This time, Aleera took a little more interest in some of the things. Willy was so ecstatic that she had begun to take interest that he even behaved him self. Well… until they came to the nut room.

Aleera practically stood on the gate as she tried to get closer to the squirrels. Smiling wickedly Willy said, "Why don't you take a closer look?" taking out his key ring, he placed one of the smaller ones in the lock. The gate swung smoothly open, Aleera stood motionless at the threshold of the pit. She looked at Willy who smiled encouragingly to her. "But Willy!" Charlie hissed "what if they-"

Willy spun around, "Charlie you really shouldn't mumble I can't hear a word you say when you do."

"But –"

"Mumbler!" he said a little louder.

Aleera walked hesitantly forward. One by one, the squirrels stopped what they were doing and stared at the girl as she made her way towards the center of the room. She looked down the garbage shoot and then made her way halfway between the shoot and the gate. Here she stood still as she watched the squirrels watch her.

Willy and Charlie stood at the gate holding their breath. Charlie bit his lip in apprehension while Willy bounced on the ball of his toes.

For a long moment the squirrels watched the girl before it became clear that they would have to make the first move. One of the squirrels at the end on the bench jumped off his seat and ran towards her.

Willy squeaked "hear it comes!"

Aleera noticed the squirrel. Slowly, she reached into her pockets and pulled out the few small peanut that would have been her next meal had she not come here. Crouching down, she balanced on the balls of her toes and placed one hand on her knee. The other, filled with peanuts, she put flat on the floor. The squirrel stopped, its nose twitched in confusion. A gift? It though. How odd.

Not sure if the squirrel was willing to come any closer, she placed the peanuts on the ground and backed away a few feet. The squirrel chirped and squeaked several ties and waited.

Aleera surprised them all (the squirrels included) when she mimicked the small animal almost perfectly. It ran up to the peanuts and sniffed them eagerly. Knocking on one of them, he listened to it before being satisfied. Taking a delicate nibble of it, he tossed the others behind him. Those were eagerly consumed by the few squirrels that had they courage to come forward while the lone squirrel inspected the girl.

Suddenly, there was a squirrel up roar as all of the squirrels jumped off the benches and stampeded towards her. Aleera didn't flinch when they crawled up her bare arms and legs, their claws digging into her pale skin. One of the squirrels made its way to her head and tapped vigorously on her fore head with a furry paw. A hush fell over the squirrels as the "leader squirrel" listened. After a moment, it hopped from her head into her arms where it nestled itself, quite determined to stay there.

Slowly, the other squirrels backed away and returned to their nut duties. Taking the squirrel with her, she climbed back up the stairs and looked sadly at Willy. He knew that that would happen; she was sure of it. And she knew that this was not the out come he had expected. So instead of saying any thing to him she just looked at him sadly, as if to say, "I sorry that that didn't go as planed. Turning to Charlie, she said "I think he likes me… can I keep him?"

Charlie looked at Willy, who had suddenly become very uncomfortable standing next to Aleera, who seemed so innocent in comparison to himself. Willy nodded, hoping to ease his sudden guilt by doing something nice for her.

Aleera watched the exchange of looks silently. After Willy nodded, she put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. She almost laughed at him when he flinched. Walking away, she began to talk to the squirrel. "Poor little Treeclimber," she said to him as she scratched his ears, "what do you do with no trees to climb?" Willy looked at Aleera, "you named it … Treeclimber?'' Aleera nodded as she continued to cuddle with the squirrel. Treeclimber seemed to be enjoying himself immensely and squeaked himself a storm, probably telling her all about Squirrelly things. "Why Treeclimber?" he asked "why not something like Leroy?" Aleera looked curiously at him. Her odd colored gaze making him shift uncomfortably. "Did you know a Leroy Mr. Wonka?" it was the first time she said his name and Willy blinked in surprise as she said it. "No…" he answered slowly as he rubbed his hands together, making that horrible squeaking sound. She tilted her head to the side, "then why Leroy?" Willy ignored her and continued on saying "let's keep on trucking."

Charlie and Aleera followed. Placing Treeclimber on her shoulder, she shook her head. What an odd man.


	5. stars or lack there of

Chapter five: stars, or lack there of

Willy Wonka had set the lights to go on and off slowly, mimicking the dawn and twilight hours of the day. Aleera sat on the banks of the chocolate river as the light began to fade. Treeclimber sat a little ways away on a jaw breaker boulder. She watched as the little mammal cleaned his face with his front paws. The glazed look in her eyes stated

clearly that she was lost in thought.

meanwhile

Charlie and Willy sat at the table waiting for Mrs. Bucket to place dinner on the table. Charlie excitedly told every one about showing Aleera around the factory. Willy received some very disappointed looks from Mrs. Bucket when she was told just how Aleera came by the squirrel. Charlie reached for his napkin when his mother noticed his dirty hands. "Charlie!" she said disapprovingly "go wash up!" she smacked him playfully with her dish towel as he past. "Aleera!" she called up stairs. When she got no answer she peaked up there. Finding the room empty, she frown, "hmm…she must be down by the river" she moved to the door but Wonka jumped up.

"I'll go get her." He volunteered surprising every one, including himself. Quickly he added "I just hope she hasn't fallen in!" putting on a distressed face he ran out of the house saying "oh my poor chocolate!"

---

He found both Aleera and his chocolate unscathed. Watching her silently from behind a peppermint plant, he studied how the light (now silver to represent the moon) reflected off her spiral curls. Odd, because normally he wouldn't care. Stepping closed, he heard her speak.

"It's very odd Treeclimber, she said softly to the squirrel who sat at attention a few feet away. "You would think that of all people he would understand her, but nope" she shook her head to emphasize her words "he's nod even the least bit insane" Willy realized that she was talking about him and decided to intervene before he heard something he didn't want to hear.

"Good morning star shine, the earth says hello!" he said walking up to her.

Aleera turned her head and regarded him, "if one is nocturnal then yes, I suppose it would be a good morning. As for stars" she looked up, "there are none."

"Well," he said thoughtfully as he came to stand by her "I suppose that I could make tiny sugar crystals and place them in the exact right place to mimic the pattern of the stars in the sky."

Aleera nodded slowly as she tried to comprehend whether or not that meant he would make stars or not. While she did a bit of her mothers logic slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. "And the wolves howl to the moon as the sun fades while it rises. The rain falls into a sea of blood and here I stand on the island of maybe as it crumbles beneath me."

"What?"

"Hmmm?" she asked

"Whaddid you just say? Something about the moon and wolves and blood"

Aleera looked at him. She had completely forgotten everything she had said a moment before. Raising an eye brow, she asked, "Mr. Wonka are you drunk?"

"I most certainly am not!" he answered quickly. This caused her to give him a funny look as she murmured something about odd males. He ignored this and said "dinners done… which is why I came out, cause they wont lemme eat…without…you ...there." he voice trailed away when she held out her hand for him to grab. "And just what am I supposed to do with that?" he asked tapping his foot impatiently. For god sake didn't she understand he was hungry? Why didn't she just get up?

"Help me up." She answered. Something about her voice, probably the child likes innocents of it, prompted him to grab her hand. He pulled her up and looked at his hand horrified. "Ewwwwwwwww!" he exclaimed and vigorously wiped his hand on her arm "germs!"

Again she looked at him. This time with a wide eyed expression on her face, _"Afraid of germs that much are you? As one who is alone, I'd say your fears are better placed in that which is unknown."_ Done with sanity for the day she decided to revert to speaking in riddle.

Willy looked at her for several moments before laughing nervously "heh heh, you're really weird." He walked up to the house not really caring if Aleera followed. Upon hearing her call to the squirrel, which had become very much like a dog, he knew that she had indeed decided to follow, which was good, because one could only dine on candy for so long.


	6. i write, you reveiew

Ok guys. I did my part, wrote five chapters for your enjoyment, but unless I know that people are reading this, then I'm not going to bother writing any more…….so review! And ill love you forever!


	7. nightmares

Chapter six: nightmares

Aleera looked at dinner and bared her teeth. Ruined, the whole damned dinner was ruined because of all the adults. The made it and messed with it and put it on her plate. Sickened, she climber gracefully up the later and went to bed.

"Windmills play charades!" call the old woman proudly

"Nightingales that live will sing of passing times!'' Aleera called out before falling to sleep.

At the table Charlie sat glumly, he liked Aleera, but he really had hoped to sleep in his own room.

"what's wrong love?" asked his mother Charlie shrugged, just was wondering where id be sleeping tonight."

"Oh darling I forgot all about that!" Mrs. Bucket cried "honestly darling I really don't know!"

"Oh come now Alice, why can't they share a room?" asked Mr. Bucket.

She looked at him "because Aleera is 17 years old! She's practically an adult!"

Mr. Bucket nodded "pint taken." After a moments thought, turned to Willy. "Would you….have you …" his voice trailed away as Willy began to look wide eyed at him

"Willy. Charlie said in his "important voice"

Willy's eyes darted from person to person. "Oh all right!" he said throwing his hands in the air. "I'll give her a guest room!"

"Right Mr. Wonka!" said Mr. Bucket cheerfully "I'll go fetch her!" he got up from the table and went up stairs. Finding that she was already asleep, he simply picked her up, which wasn't hard to do as she was extremely light. Carring her down stairs he tried to place her in Willy's arms. At first he just stared at her but then her voice rang in his ears _"Afraid of germs that much are you? As one who is alone, I'd say your fears are better placed in that which is unknown." _Just to prove a point to the sleeping girl, he took her in his arms and bide the buckets a good night.

---

Oompa loompas ran wildly around preparing the room as Willy gently set her still sleeping form down on the bed. Throwing a lit blanket on top of her, he turned off the light as the last oompa loompa cleared the room. "Good night star shine." He whispered before closing the door and preceding to his own room two doors down.

---

Aleera tossed and turned in her sleep. She was running. Always, always running. The chased after her and she ran faster. She could feel her mother's presents be hind her as the elder woman fought to keep up. Grabbing her mother's hand she ran even faster, but it was no use. They were quickly gaining on her. Her mother stumbled and fell. She stopped to help her but they caught up to the two girls. Aleera screamed and woke up. Not again, she thought, oh god please not again!

Looking wildly around she realized she didn't know where she was. Leaning against the head board of the bed and hugging her knees close to her chest, she began to cry.


	8. comfort

Ok, I really want to say thankyou to those who reviewed! I'm really glad you liked Aleera as I was I bit worried about that. Ive been asked where I got her name and I got it from Van Hesling, she was one of dracula's brides. Depending on how well this goes I may be writing Harry Potter stories so look for those. This chapies kinda short, but here you go!

………………………………………………………………………………………

Willy Wonka shot up in bed. "rum!" he exclaimed. He shook his head, he really needed to stop dreaming about being a pirate. That was when he heard the scream. He tilted his head to the side, brown hair falling in his face as he listened. From down the hall he could hear crying. wondering what was going on, he got up and walked down the hall.

The crying, it seemed, was coming from Aleera's room. He opened the door a crack, and looked in.

The bleam of light that came from the hall was the only lighting in the room. from the door, he could see Aleera sitting on her bed. He watched as sobs wracked her delicate frame. "star shine?" he asked. When she continued to cry he frowned. Puckering his brow he asked quietly "Aleera?"

She snapped her head up tears streamed out of the blue and green eyes. She trembled as if she were cold, her lip quivering as more tears fell. Willy walked into the room and stood next to her, violet eyes meeting bicolored. He reached out to touch her hair, but then pulled back. That's her hair, he thought. And its probably full of germs and….such.

His cautions were all in vain though as the next moment she threw her arms around his waist and sobbed in the purple pajamas. He stiffened, his arms locked and his hands stuck out perfectly perpendicular from the rest of his body. Aleera didn't notice however. As she clung to the only thing she was familiar with. He wriggled his fingers before relaxing in the frightened girls grip and returning the embrace.

After she had calmed down a bit, she pulled away. "I've gotten you all wet." She said softly as she tried to brush the water stops off Willy's shirt. "wet like a water fall."

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he giggled nervously and said. "wow…that was kinda weird."

She nodded and murmured "sorry."

"that's ok little girl" he said cheerfully. "it happens all the time!" this of course wasn't true but he really wanted her to feel better. She gave him a doubting look. "no really." He assured her. "little oompa loompas come up to me all the time when they get hurt. And when they cry, its just so heart breaking that I feel compelled to pick the up and hug them." He demonstrated with her pillow.

She snorted in disbelief and wiped her eyes.

After another few moments, he asked "so… why was Charlie's pet crying?"

" a dream," she said quietly "well a nightmare actually. They came for us again and we couldn't get away."

"who?"

"they destroy us all with no regard as to who else is affected. They kill you with their hate for your mind and give you pills to make you quiet. 'bad girl, sick minded child affected by the mother. Wean her away,' they say when they think I'm not there" she shivered. Her eyes held an animalistic like glow as they reflected the hall lights, her mind clearly else where. "and they're coming."


	9. connected

I swear I'm still alive! My mum decided she was going to attempt to download some stuff this weekend and I couldn't get on the computer. Aaaaaand!... You guys finally get a physical description of Aleera. So with that said, I proudly present the next chapter:

Chapter 7

The next morning, Willy walked Aleera down to the bucket's for breakfast. Aleera however didn't touch her food. Actually, she just sat there, staring into space, not even the pleasant babble of dear grandma Georgina could get the girl to do any thing more than nod.

Willy glanced from person to person as he ate. He had already decided that it was best not to bring up the night before, and hoped that she would do the same. When he finished, he pushed his plate away from him and beckoned to Charlie. He, in turn, beckoned to Aleera, who seemed to be looking for an excuse to move.

Mrs. Bucket, however, had other ideas. She grabbed Aleera's arm and pulled her back inside. "No you don't!" she said in a manner that made Aleera think of a hen clucking over a chicken. "You're staying here, and we are going to get you cleaned up. Then, we are going to the store, to but some decent clothing." She looked at Willy daring him to say something.

Willy may be many things, but he wasn't a miser. He shrugged his shoulders and took out his (gasp!) purple wallet and handed it to the woman. He then looked at Charlie who nodded approvingly. Turning back to Mrs. Bucket and said, "Kay….have fun then" grabbing his cane ant top hat he turned on his heel and walked out of the little house. Charlie followed close behind him, leaving a very grumbly Aleera behind.

"I – I can't. It wouldn't be right. The money's not mine." These and other useless protests reached the ears of Alice bucket as she and Aleera walked from shop to shop in the market, leaving each one with yet another outfit for Aleera.

"Nonsense!" exclaimed the woman pulling the frail girl through the crowed streets. "Mr. Wonka gave you the money to spend."

Aleera murmured something incomprehensible as she stumbled down the street after an enthusiastic Mrs. Bucket.

………………………………

Willy walked into the bucket's house that night completely exhausted. He collapsed in a chair at the table and ate with great vigor the food Mrs. Bucket put in front of him. It wasn't until Charlie said something to him that he looked up.

Charlie sat across from him, and from where he was sitting, he could see the ladder to the loft. It was then he noticed that there seemed to be someone new in the house. He was about to say something when the person turned around. Willy gasped and dropped his fork when he realized that it was Aleera.

It was amazing how much a bath and new clothing could do. Her hair was no longer a greasy tangled mess, but soft and bouncy. Her waist length spiral curls weren't black as he'd originally thought. Her hair was actually the color of black cherries which threw into sharp relief her odd eyes. Her outfit complemented her figure perfectly. The dark green floor length dress fit and emphasized her curves.

Willy felt his mouth go dry as she sat next to him. "Good evening star shine the earth says hello!" he said weakly.

Aleera pursed her lips. God she hated it when he said that. She was about to tell him just that when Mr. Bucket walked in. "evening buckets!" he said sitting down.

Aleera froze. Her hand hovered over her plate, eyes wide. She lowered her hand slowly and sat still for a full thirty second before whispering "too many… there's just too many!" she shook her head and bolted out the door.

"Was it something I said?" Asked Mr. Bucket confused

Mrs. Bucket shook her head "no, she does that every now and then. Personally, I think that she's afraid of adults."

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Grandpa George "she's always talking to that old coot!"' he pointed to his wife.

Charlie shook his head. "She got the mental state of a two year old." He said "I don't think she likes people who are …well… mature."

His mother nodded in agreement. "Go talk to her Charlie; try to explain things to her."

He got up. "I'll be back."

What ever he said to her, it was enough to get her to calm down enough to come back inside and finish her meal. In fact, it was enough to get her to tolerate the presents of all of the adults at the factory 99 of the time. As the weeks passed, she got better at being with the adults and stopped bolting out of the room at random times.

And so the weeks passed and she began to fall into a routine. She spent the days with Charlie and Willy in the inventing room, and the evenings with Mrs. Bucket cooking dinner.

She began to enjoy to odd chocolate makers company, and he the same with her. She some times lost him when she began to speak in riddles and he'd have to ask her what she meant. But she was patient and explained. Most importantly, she was able to follow every thing the chocolate maker said. Some times she listened to him ramble, and sometimes she commented, but mostly, they had a mutual unspoken understanding of one another and worked in silence.

Charlie stood on the sidelines and watched it all. The change in both of them was amazing. Willy no longer flinched when she accidentally brushed against him, and she no longer glared at him when he called her star shine. All in all, things were certainly looking up the couple.

Until the letter.

It came in the mail, as most letters do. Willy was sitting at his desk when the oompa loompa brought in the big pile of mail. Most of it was fan mail, which was immediately tossed aside. He'd look at it later, but right now there were more important things to read.

Like this one. He opened it and read the first few lines……oh no. no, no and no!

This couldn't be happening! No to him! He reread the letter. Nope. Still the same.

Jumping out of his chair, which fell over with a loud bang. Leaping over his desk, he ran out of his office to tell the buckets the horrible news.


	10. song

Chapter 8

Aleera gasped in surprise. "No! They can't do that!"

"Close the factory! That's insane!" exclaimed Mrs. Bucket.

By this time, Willy began to hyperventilate. Aleera watched him closely as he sat down in a chair, hardly listening to Mrs. Bucket who was reading the letter out loud.

_Dear Mr. Willy Wonka,_

_We, the candy makers of the world, have decided that the time has come to put an end to the monopolization of the candy market. Thus, on the 12 of February, you're factory will be visited by certain officials with the power to decide whether or not you will be allowed to continue making candy. These officials will be given a tour of your factory. Failure to allow this will result in the immediate closing of the factory._

_Sincerely,_

_Slugworth & co._

Willy whimpered and hugged his knees to his chest. "They can't do this to me!" he squeaked. "I'm Willy Wonka!"

Aleera put her arms around him, but he pushed her away and walked out of the house. She stared after him for a moment before following. Charlie called after her, telling her to leave Willy alone, but she ignored him.

…………………………………………………………………………

She found him by the chocolate river. He was still talking to himself, throwing bits of spearmint grass in the river. "Go away" he said when he saw her.

"No" she said simply, joining him in his making of spearmint flavored chocolate.

He made a move to leave, but she pulled him back. "Sit down!" she instructed.

It was such a blunt comment, and one with no hidden meaning at that. So he did what she said to do. Aleera put her arms around him. "Every thing will be ok." She whispered. "Everything goes through hard times. Its nature's way. How would a stag learn to defend itself if it didn't lose a fight or two? Or a person learn to better them selves if they don't make mistakes?" he didn't have an answer, so he didn't say any thing. He just listened to her speak. Letting the calmness of her voice wash over him. After a few moments she fell into silence.

"I suppose you're right he said. But, what am I gonna do I can't make candy?" he asked.

"That won't happen. Just because the stars are envious of the sun, doesn't mean they can dim its light and no matter how the wind howls the mountain cannot bow to it."

"Kay… you have fun with that." He said completely lost. She giggled but didn't bother explaining. Willy felt horrible. The possibility of losing the factory was enough to make him sick.

Aleera felt his uneasiness and was unsure of what to do. After a moment, and a deep breath, she began to sing a song her mother used to sing before she was completely insane.

_**I am a tree holding away the storm. **_

_**Here in my arms I'll keep you safe and warm.**_

_**Even the gods won't dare to cross this line**_

_**Where my life is forever yours**_

_**And you are mine.**_

The song is from the Broadway performance "once on this island"


	11. the majority

Okie te! So me mum finally stopped trying to become one with the computer. I just want to say…wow! I really didn't think I'd be getting any reviews, but here they all are!

By the way… I did decide to write my hp story its called ­stating the facts for those of you who are interested. Its based in the marauder's time so I hope you like that.

WARNING: Aleera WILL lose her temper in this chapter…..be afraid!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

They came marching up to the factory with their fancy suits and there important looking briefcases. Aleera hated them. She hated the way they moved and spoke, and she hated the way their eyes shifted from side to side as there computer like brains recorded everything they saw.

And if nothing else, she hated them because they reminded her of the people who tried to take her from her mother. Now these … people… were trying to take Willy's factory. She turned away from the window and looked at the man who had some how become the most important thing in her life.

He paced around his bedroom mumbling nervously to himself. His top hat was skew and his gloves squeaked loudly as he wrung his hands together. She thought about telling him that they were here, but decided to let the oompa loompas be the bearers of bad news. Instead, she walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and caught her in a tight embrace which surprised her. After a moment she closed her eyes and hugged him back, giving as well as taking comfort in their closeness. She put her head on his shoulder and whispered, "may the rhapsody of song embrace you as Pluto comes to deceit you."

He didn't understand the words, but the way she said them gave him hope. He held her at arms length and looked her in the eyes, "no matter what happens, you'll always be my star shine,"

She smiled and nodded. He was scared, she could see it in his eyes, and read it in the way he moved. Leaning close to him she said, "lady Aphrodite has blessed us in ways we wouldn't have believed. But every thing has a price, and the she and lord Mars are as fickle as the tides or the moon. Where one goes the other will follow in envy. The pendulum has swung to mars now, and all we can do is fight back.

He looked at he for a long moment before lightly brushing his lips against her. For the second time in ten minutes he'd surprised her. She was about to kiss him back when the door opened and an oompa loompa walked in. it began to speak to Willy. His eyes went wide and he made an odd squeak sound. Not unlike that of a rubber mouse being run over by a 18 wheeler.

She followed him as he walked out of the room. they climbed into the glass elevator willy pushed the chocolate room button. Apparently the oompa loompas had escorted them that far.

When they reached the room, they were greeted by four men and a young woman just a bit older than Aleera. "greetings people!" willy said trying to be nonchalant about the whole situation. "I shake you warmly by the hand." He reached out but pulled his hand back at the last moment.

The young woman started scribbling furiously onto a clipboard. Aleera noticed and bared her teeth at her. This too when down on the clipboard. One of the men started speaking to Willy, but Aleera wasn't interested in that. Instead, she began to circle around the group of people. Stopping here and there long enough to make one of the nervous before moving on to the next. She looked over the woman's shoulder and read what shed written. "you speak with a forked tongue!" she said snatching the clipboard from the woman's hands. 'unable to come in contact with humans.'? She read from the already mile long list of things. 'unstable.'? she looked wide eyed and child like at the woman. Her bicolored eyes searching her woman's brown ones she asked "are you?" her voice was slightly menacing.

At this point any other conversation they were having stopped. Everybody turned to regard to two women. The woman drew herself up proudly. "madam, I am a student of oxford, currently studying psychology 101 along with many other studies of the like. What do you think?"

Aleera moved with an animalistic grace around the woman, when she met her eyes again Aleera said softly "yes, but are you stable? Are you sane? Look at Einstein, he created something that destroyed thousands. Is her sane." She moved closer "riddle me this, what is sanity?" nobody answered. "who is sane?" the woman raised her hand as did the men. "right!" Aleera said happily poking the woman's nose "because the majority allows it." The woman gave her a perplexed look. Rolling her eyes Aleera explained. "sanity, is nothing but the majority out look on life. In the mean time," she pulled the paper off the clip board and ripped it. Letting it fall to the floor she said "start over"

The woman looked horrified at the paper. She grabbed the clipboard out of Aleera's hands and said "well, I can see why you are the way you are Mr. Wonka! Allowing people like her to run around in here."

Aleera my not have been around a lot of people, but she knew a slander when she hear one. Unable to thing of how to get her point across in a way the others would understand, she kicked the woman hard in the shins and said "may Satan's wrath be brought upon you! And may you rot in hell till the Day of Judgment!" Willy grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Holding her close, he whispered, "its all right, I'll take care of it." he smoothed her hair. "I can deal with it from here" pushing her towards the Bucket's home he urged her to go there.

With on last scathing look at the intruders, she made her way to the house to go tell grandma Georgina what was happening.


	12. they

**_Sooooo….. God I hate writer's block. I know it's been a while and I'm sorry. What with my sister breaking her ankle and me not knowing what to do after the last chapter I decided to take a small break. I hope you can forgive me…_**

**_So after much much much thought, here is my next loverly chapter:_**

_**-------------------------------------------**_

To those who speak in riddles

Chapter ten: they're coming 

Willy Wonka collapsed into a chair at the table about two hours later. "never again!" he exclaimed. " never will I tolerate such a horrible group of people's presents for as long as I live." He pointed to Charlie. "could you get something to wash the adult stench off the stuff in the invention room?" he asked making a funny expression.

Aleera walked over to Willy and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She began to move away when Illy surprised every one and grabbed her hand and gently pulled her down onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. Aleera draped her arm around his neck and took off his top hat. She then placed her cheek on Willy's soft brown hair.

Mr. and Mrs. Bucket looked wide eyed at each other. Grandma Josephine, grandpa George and grandpa Joe all looked at each other. George nudged Joe's arm and held out his hand. With a sigh, grandpa Joe placed a five dollar bill in the other man's hand.

Grandma Georgina looked at the couple. "the nightingale listens if only the lark will speak." She said knowingly. Aleera nodded sleepily, her eyes closed.

"although the morning sun has risen the 'gale will sing as loudly as its better half."

Willy upon noticing the weariness of Aleera's voice stood up, momentarily holding the young woman bridle style before gently setting her down. His hand instantly found hers. Their fingers intertwined and he pulled her toward the door. "well all…." He said looking nervously around at the knowing smiles of those in the room. "the inspection results will be here in a few days…"

He continued walking towards the door as he spoke. The rest of his words, however, were lost on Charlie as the little boy looked at the couple. How perfect they seemed! Aleera and Willy seemed to fit together like a puzzle: one which, when put together, made a beautiful picture.

"….so with that said I'm gonna…just ..go…" with that he and a slightly confused Aleera left.

--------------------

"what was all that about?" Aleera asked the chocolate maker as they walked down the hall. Willy shrugged.

"you're tired" he commented, refusing to go any further in the previous matter. "didn't you sleep…any?" Willy knew that unlike most adults, Aleera slept a lot. Countless times he'd been in the middle of a conversation with her and Charlie only to look over and find that she'd fallen asleep on the invention room floor. At first, he'd been a bit insulted, but after a while, he realized that Aleera stayed up almost all night due to nightmares. So he let the girl catch her sleep when she could, whether it be night or day, and some times found himself just staring at her as she did so.

He led Aleera to her room and made sure that she got into bed alright before leaving for his own room

Willy turned off the water in the shower, dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist. Turning to the bathroom counter he picked up his hair brush and brushed his hair, listening for any sounds out of the ordinary. For a moment, he thought he heard some one moving around in the hall, but the noise was gone before he could be sure. After getting dressed in his normal bed attire, he opened the bathroom door and froze. Aleera was standing in the door way, her hand raised as if she were about to knock on the door.

"hello star shine." Willy said slightly baffled. "shouldn't you be using the bathroom that's in your room?" that was, after all, why it was there.

Aleera lowered her hand slowly. "I was looking for you" she said a bit timidly. _Hence the reason she's in your room_ Willy thought to himself. "well… you found me" he said helpfully as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"you told me to tell you if…"her voice trailed away. Willy sighed. For the past few Weeks Aleera had been having dreams of _them_. Who _they_ was she could never really

say. When the letter came Willy assumed that _they_ were the people who'd be coming to that factory. Aleera disagreed, so he told her to tell him if she had another dream about them. Apparently she'd been right, because according to the dream, _they_ were still coming.

_**Haha! I fooled you all::does a happy dance: oh the cleverness of me!**_

**_By the way… the little bluey-purpleish button down there has been feeling kinda lonely. Be its friend and review this story, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll write. Such is the way of my mind._**

**_Thought of the day: they baby is _sleeping_ ands the baby's _asleep._ Two different word both meaning the same thing…why do we have to ways to say the same thing? Which way is right? _**


	13. kidnapped

**_Hey all… sorry about my age long absents. But I do have an excuse (though don't we all?) you see…unlike a normal school teacher, my science teacher wont tell you you're grade, you have to look it up online. So I get on the site, look at my grade (I was failing) and get off. Apparently, 3 Trojan viruses decided to follow me home! (lucky me ee) on top of that, my duel enrollment professor gave me a term paper to write and so I had to do that, and get my grade in science to go up. So. Yes… I just wanna apologize if I fall asle….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz._**

Chapter 11

Willy led Aleera to the bed and made her sit. She fidgeted uncomfortably and glanced at the door. He pulled his desk chair over to the side of the bed and sat down. Grabbing her hand, Willy gently whispered a few reassuring words to her. She stared at him, her bicolored eyes glazed over. She had such a blank look on her face that Willy began to wonder if she was even in there. Maybe, he thought, she just left her body and her mind is floating around some where. He gave a cautious look around the room, half expecting to see something that resembled Aleera's mind floating behind him.

She shuddered and looked at Willy as she came back to herself. _How long did I zone out?_ She wondered idly as she looked around the room again. She noticed that Willy wasn't looking at her anymore and took the opportunity to settle herself on his bed.

Willy turned back around and found himself staring at thin air. Then he noticed that Aleera had lain down and was fast asleep. He smiled softly to himself and lightly kissed her forehead before getting up and moving to the other side of the bed.

Careful not to wake her, Willy gathered the sleeping girl into his arms and buried his face in her dark red hair.

The first thing that Aleera noticed when she woke up was that somebody was holding her. Her first instinct was to jump up and run, but then she recognized where she was and snuggled closer to the person she now recognized as Willy. For about ten minutes, she simply listened to his heart beat under her ear. Finally, she realized that they both needed to get up.

Sighing, she fidgeted at little, hoping that would be enough to wake him. It wasn't. Instead of waking up, he tightened his grip around her. She sat there completely dumbfounded. Normal people wake up when something close to the m moves…right? _well dear this is Willy Wonka,_ she reasoned with herself preparing to poke the man to wake him.

At that moment, a tiny oompa loompa walked into the room and looked thoughtfully at Aleera. Trotting over to her he told her (using loompa language, which she knew from mere observation) that there were people at the front doors. Looking for her.

Aleera raised an eyebrow and detangled herself from the still sleeping Willy. She slipped into her room and put on a bathrobe before making her way to the front door. Opening the door just enough from her to peak out, she asked "can I help you?"

From the other side of the door a deep melodic voice answered. "yes ma'am," he paused. "would you kindly step outside?"

Aleera was hesitant, but she complied to the man's whishes. Opening the door and stepping out onto the front porch type thing where she and Willy sat on warmer days. And she immediately regretted it. From behind the man who had spoken to her, came two more men who grabbed Aleera and pinned her arms in an awkward position behind her back. "Aleera, due to resent events, the city has proclaimed you unstable and a danger to society. There for we have been appointed to transport you to the local asylum (A/N because every town has one!) where you will be kept until further notice." Aleera was scared stiff. She remembered all too well what the asylum was. This was just like the day they had come to take her mother. It took every thing in her not to panic. Too much.

"WILLY!" she screamed trying to get out of the two large men's grip. "WILLY HELP!"


	14. all alone

_**Wow. I got no reviews. Not only am I depressed, but I'm disappointed in ALL of you.**_

_**I was tempted stop writing all together! If I don't get any reviews I won't continue writing. 2 seconds is all it takes.**_

Chapter 12

_Never thought I'd be in this place_

_It's someone else's life I'm living _

_Wish I were living a lie_

_The hardest part is when the bell breaks _

_Falling down and then forgiving _

_You didn't kiss me good by_

_I'm choking on the words I didn't get to say_

_And pray I get the chance one day_

_I still run, I still swing open the door_

_I still think you'll be there like before_

_Doesn't every body out there know to never come round?_

_Some things a heart won't listen to_

_I'm still holding out I'm still holding out_

_For you…_

Willy ran to the door just in time to see a large truck pull out of the factory. He ran out of the building only to be pulled back by a bedraggled Charlie. "Willy! Mr. Wonka! No." he said grabbing his sleeve.

"what are you doing!" Willy exclaimed "they have her! They have Aleera!" the chocolateer became very distressed. He wrung his hands together unsure of what to do. "they…they have her and I don't even know who they are!" he sat down on the cold hard ground. "this is horrible! Absolutely horrible. What am I going to do?" he sounded so dismal and helpless compared to usual flamboyant self that Charlie almost began to cry

Charlie patted Willy on the back. "don't worry Willy, we'll find out who they are." He promised

Aleera struggled against the leather straps that held her to the white sheeted bed. They were tight enough to cut off the circulation in her hands, but even so it took several grown men to hold her down when she saw the large needle the doctor was planning to use to draw her blood.

"NO!" she protested loudly "you can't have my blood! Thieves! You steal my life, my blood. You take it away. Damn you!"

The doctors rolled their eyes. One of them dampened a white cloth with an odd liquid and put it over the screaming woman's mouth.

Aleera froze, her bicolored eyes widened in fear. She remembered this, this horrid chemical that made one fall asleep against their will. She stopped breathing. Grabbing a good amount of the cloth between her teeth she yanked it out of the startled doctor's hand. "go to hell!" she shrieked, then spat on the man's face.

He jumped back, yelling in disgust. Two more doctors took his place, having to practically lie on top of her so that she was still enough to take blood from. Aleera began throwing curses at them. Most of which weren't even in English….

About two hours and three doctors later, the remainder of the people willing to work with the deranged young woman threw her into a small room with only an old wore out mattress. They closed and locked the door behind them.

Aleera threw herself against the door so many times that her shoulders were bruised. She banged her fists against it and let out a heart wrenching scream of anguish and fear. Tears streamed down her face as she sagged against the door, her only thoughts were of her darling chocolateer, would she ever see him again?


	15. nathan

_**I'm so excited! I got a Whole 2 reviews! **_

_**I haven't had one of these in a while,**_

_**Thought of the day: what's better? A truth that sheds a tear or a lie that brings a smile? **_

Chapter 13

It wasn't an insane asylum, it was hell.

Aleera pushed the plate of food away and turned her head so she didn't have to look at the person who had brought it in. it had been two days since she was brought in, and she refused to eat any thing. A normal person would barely have been fazed other than experiencing the nauseating feeling one usually does when they don't eat. But Aleera's metabolism was exceptionally fast, and she had such a tiny frame that she was already nothing but skin and bones.

The nurse sighed and walked out of the room carrying a plate of untouched food she'd brought in earlier that day. Dr. Marcus looked eagerly at the nurse who shook her head. His shoulders sagged and he turned to a large man who stood behind him. "Sorry Nathan, but we can't force her to eat."

Nathan ran a hand through his exceptionally long hair. "Can you put her on IVs?" Marcus shook his head,

"Not without her consent," he lamented

Nathan snarled. "She's in a psycho ward!" he exclaimed bitterly. "Make a court appeal, tell them she's incompetent!"

"That still wouldn't give _you _the right to decide what's best for her"

"Why the HELL NOT!" he screamed startling several nurses "I mean for god sake I'm her brother…her twin" he sagged against the wall, a hand covered his face

"Yes well according to every medical source available, you're dead."

"That's only a temporary set back," the man said waving his hand dismissively. The doctor raised an eyebrow at the man's nonchalant tone.

"You're as crazy as she is."

"Neither of us is crazy. And the only reason the world thinks she is is because she was brought up in this place."

"And whose fault is that?"

Nathan peeked between his fingers, "excuse me?" he asked in a low and dangerous tone.

"I don't mean to pin anything on you," Marcus amended hastily. "I simply mean that if your father hadn't drove your mother insane, then you two wouldn't have been born here"

"That's not true! My father did no such thing."

"Nate! Your father is right now presently on jail because he killed every one you're mother ever had a connection with."

"Which is why you and several other doctors filled out reports saying that Aleera and I were still born." Nathan finished in a monotoned drawl. "Sing a new song that bits gone stale. Especially since my father somehow managed to find out that we were very much alive."

Sudden understanding filled the doctor's eyes, "that's why you asked me to try to find her?" His tone was flooded with relief, "I had thought you just wanted to finish what you started."

Nathan opened his mouth, then decided against saying anything and walked off, his brow puckered in deep thought.

Seventeen years ago, Nathan and Aleera were taken into the care of Dr. Marcus Helsing. Marcus cared for the two of them to the best of his ability, but it had never been enough for the twins who had always shared a special bond with their mother. The children would spend all day in their mother's room, talking to the insane woman. It was when Marcus asked Aleera if she'd eaten all her peas or fed them to the dog and she'd answered dragonflies would be more apt to fly in a garden than in the tundra that brought the doctor to his senses.

He tried to completely cut off all contact with their mother. Nathan was sent to a boarding school across the city; Aleera however, clung to her mother's bed side screaming that she'd never leave her mother. Marcus folded, and let her stay.

Two years ago, Natalie became deathly ill, and Nathan can back home. His mother had needed to go on life support with little chance of recovery. Nathan was all for it, Aleera however would hear nothing of it.

She began to rant and rave of how it was wrong to chain a spirit to a body it had obviously out grown. The argument that followed was enough to make a biker tremble. In the end, Aleera ended up pulling the plug herself before running away. That had been the last itme Nathan had seen her.

Then about a week ago, some people who had surveyed Wonka's factory came by to report that some crazy woman was living with the famous chocolate maker. After listening to a short description, it was clear that the woman had been Aleera.

That's when Nathan had appealed to Marcus. He asked him to bring her to the asylum, but didn't say why.

And now Nathan spoke of their father escaping prison? It seems this had just been a warm up.

Charlie typed madly on the computer that Willy had given him for his birthday last year. Within a few seconds, papers came whizzing out of the printer, always managing to land in a neat pile on the empty chair next to him.

Willy, the chair's would be occupant, paced around the room, sucking on a sea sickness candy. Charlie tried to point out that finding a MP was hardly going out to sea. That only made him more short tempered.

"how long id this going to take!" he whined at the boy.

"I have to wait for the page to load" Charlie explained for the third time in the last fibe minutes.

"well you shouldn't have to wait! That contraption is the fastest thing on the market! the man I bought it from said so!"

"yes well that was last year…" Charlie muttered darkly and clicked the mouse furiously.

Ten minutes later Charlie's exclamation of "I got it!" rang through the bucket house hold. Every one gathered around the computer as Charlie read a passage out loud. "the sacred heart asylum was once known for their specialist doctor M. Helsing. Helsing who had taken a few years off to raise his foster children, Aleera and Nathan, has now returned to the hospital where he has continued his research on the human mind."

"that doesn't tell us where she is." Willy said utterly lost.

"no, but it tells us where to start."

He quickly wrote down the address and grabbed his coat

Willy was right behind him. "let's boogie" he exclaimed before slamming into the glass elevator in his hast. "ow!... 'mokay"


	16. this chapter has no name

_**Wow! I was just re-reading some of the things that I've written (as I tend to do when I have nothing better to do than be a narcissist) and I have a whole 28 pages! I don't think I've ever written that much without getting bored of an idea! But I need you guys to do me a favor. I noticed that Willy became very un-Willyish a couple of chapters ago. If this happens again, feel free to smack me.**_

Chapter 14

"what do you mean she's in a coma!" Nathan asked in outrage.

Marcus winced, why was it that he was always getting yelled at? He cleared his throat. "Aleera has somehow managed to out herself in a coma." He repeated, watching the face of the younger man turn first a darker shade than his black cherry hair, then to a deathly pale.

"this was self induced?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. It wouldn't be the first time his sister had some how managed to put herself in a coma. That was easy enough for the both of them to do. The problems came when they tried to wake up. Because you couldn't just decide to wake up from a coma, the coma had to let you go, something it never did lightly.

Nathan peeked into the room, his sister was lieing motionless on the bed. He bite his lip when he noticed that he could see her ribs through even her clothing. "and she still hasn't eaten?"

Marcus shook his head, "she refused all attempts to feed her. We even went so far as to forcing her but she'd just throw it up afterwards."

Nathan turned and walked away, he'd been doing that a lot lately. He went into the lobby to talk to the receptionist to see if there were any rooms available so that he could be close by.

Maggie, however, seemed to be busy with other people. An odd-looking man who wore a black top hat and a burgundy over coat, accompanied by a small boy. Three guesses as to whos being admitted and two don't count, he thought glumly as he began to walk by.

Then he heard what they were saying.

"yes Aleera." The boy was saying "she's tall, has two different colored eyes and black cherry hair."

Nathan stopped, unsure of what to do. Quickly he decided it was better if he left before,

"like that guy!"

That.

Nathan turned around and walked toward them. "why is it you want to know?" he asked bluntly. He knew he was staring openly at the man, but he really didn't care. That was one of the things that he and his sister shared.

Willy knew that gaze, and he knew those eyes. He and Charlie looked at one another. They were standing in front of a male replica of Aleera. " wow…that's really weird," Willy mumbled before answering. "we're her friends." He stopped and sighed in frustration before reaching into his pocket and taking out a wadd of note cards. "I am Willy Wonka." He read before tossing the card over his shoulder. "and I shake you warmly by the hand." He didn't even bother extending his hand, instead, he threw the cards over his shoulder. "where's Aleera."

"how do you know her?" Nathan asked ignoring Willy's questions.

Charlie sighed " she was living with us until _you _ took her away." The boy's voice was so accusing that Nathan flinched.

"I didn't. doctor Marcus did, and it was for her own good."

" she's not insane." Willy said suddenly. "I demand you let her go…now" he stomped his foot for emphasis.

Nathan rolled his eyes, "I know she not insane, I'm her twin we practically share a brain, she's being kept her for other reasons."

Charlie nodded he had expected as much, "she was fine where she was." He pointed out. "nobody goes in the factory and nobody comes out without special permission from either Mr. Wonka or myself. Won't you let her come back?"

Nathan sighed. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't known that she was well protected in the chocolate factory, he had read all about the design of the place, but he couldn't help but feel better knowing that Aleera was with him.

The young boy quickly gauged the look on the man's face. "why don't you let us take her home?" he asked. "and if you want you can come and explain things, I know you'd feel better if you were with her."

"yes well the bother is we cant move her…she's in a coma."

"a what?

"a coma…self induced it was.."

"all your fault!" Willy blamed. "and now she's going to DIE! Oh this is worse than when that Gloop kid fell into the river!" Willy whined

Nathan shook his head. "she did it to herself Wonka!" he explained over Willy's wailing. "I can take you to her if you want." That shouldn't be _too _dangerous…

Willy stopped immediately. "that would be very much appreciated." He said motioning for him to lead to way.

Willy sat in the chair that Nathan had placed by Aleera's bed. His blue eyes were full of sorrow and fear and he watched the unconscious woman. she was much too skinny, Willy could see her ribs when she exhaled. He lightly brushed his finger tips over her cheek and gasped when he realized that the light contact had actually bruised her. He turned and looked at Charlie who stood quietly behind him.

Charlie looked unblinkingly at Aleera. His eyes were just beginning to glaze over when he said, "we have to bring her home."

Nathan looked on with a worried expression, they seemed to care about her, but he really couldn't be sure. Silently he looked to Marcus who motioned him to follow him out of the room.

Marcus closed the door behind him and looked at Nathan, "I think you should let them take her"

"oh and I suppose I'll just wait around here for my father to come looking for her?"

"he's not just after her. You two are in this together.

"yeah well I'll keep that in mind when I'm burying Aleera because my father knocked Captain Chocolate and his first mate Rainbow Sprinkles unconscious."

"You don't trust them?"

"Oh I trust that they try to protect her. And I also trust that they'll get concussions in the process."

"if you think you can handle your father better than they can then go with them. No! think about it," he added when Nathan began to shake his head. "with all that security and you there to protect her how will your father stand a chance?"

Nathan ran a hand through his dark hair. Unfortunately, it made sense so he grudgingly agreed.

Marcus nodded in encouragement and lead Nathan back into the room where he could propose the idea to the others.

_WARNING: this fanfiction is nearing completion! The faster I get reviews, the faster my fingers tend to move as I type. But I really want to say thank you to those of you who do review. **You all make my heart smile!1!1!SHIFT+1! .**_


	17. room arrangment

_**There is no point in lying,**_

_**So I just sit here crying**_

_**Thinking of small things**_

_**Like charms and diamond rings**_

_**And wedding bans and broken hearts**_

_**All these thing I can't take part**_

_**All the things I cannot see or hear**_

**_Like the singing of my love so dear_**

_**The ringing of a bell that's near **_

_**Like children laughing and people passing**_

_**Little girls sassing as there mothers tell them no**_

_**For I am not the baker**_

_**Nor the jolly toy maker**_

_**And though I'm not a one to fear,**_

_**I spend my days alone,**_

_**Pretend no body's home**_

_**So no one will get near,**_

_**Cause I'm the famous chocolateer.**_

_**Heheh… wow. I have no idea were that came from! I guess that's what I get for reading the raven before I update… **_

Chapter 15

"so we can take her home?" the little boy asked looking up at dr. Marcus with hopeful eyes.

The man smiled. "yes Charlie, you and Mr. Wonka can take her home on one condition."

"ha!" Willy exclaimed triumphantly, "there always a condition Charlie, don't you know that?"

Marcus ignored him. "its actually a very small condition, I doubt that you or Mr.-"

"so what is it"

Here the doctor got a bit nervous and began to look for a way to prolong this. Meanwhile, Willy was getting impatient and began to tap his foot, which didn't help. Just as Charlie was about to prompt the doctor again, Nathan interrupted.

"I have to be with Aleera. I have to come the factory."

If it had gotten any quieter, the occupants of the room would have thought they'd gone deaf.

Charlie look nervously at Nathan then at Willy, "Willy?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………..(I was soooo tempted to stop there, but then I realized tat I would be killed for the short chapter as well as the cliff hanger)……………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Willy watched as Mrs. Bucket hurried around Aleera's room with a feather duster. "what are you doing?" he asked completely baffled.

"what does it look like I'm doing Mr. Wonka?" she snapped somewhat irritably.

Willy drew back, "cleaning?" he asked meekly. The woman nodded curtly and continued

about her job. Willy cleard his throat. "actually I meant why in here"

"because this is her room."

"wel I don't _want_ her in here,"

Mrs. Bucket rose an eyebrow, "and where will she be staying?''

Willy glowered, "do I have to explain _everything_" he murmured before added in a small voice, "in my room?" he glanced hopefully at the woman who tilted her head to the side.

"well I mean the twit has to stay somewhere and he wants to be close to her and down the hall is close, but I need to be closer so my room is perfect." His voice held a note of triumph.

Mrs. Bucket continued to look at him until he got so uncomfortable that he ran from the room saying that he needed to go invent a forgetful candy.

Mrs. Bucket smiled and moved down the hall to Willy's room. tomorrow, Aleera was coming home.


	18. love

_**There are things that I will never hear**_

**_Like the ringing of a bell that's near _**

_**Like children laughing and people passing**_

**_And little girls sassing as there mothers tell them no_**

_**There are thing I'll never be able to do**_

_**Like finding love that's true**_

_**Never will I sit with you**_

_**Brush your hair and hold you**_

_**I can't be near you**_

_**Never can I answer when I hear you call**_

_**For I am not the baker**_

_**Nor the jolly toy maker**_

_**And though I'm not a one to fear,**_

_**I spend my days alone,**_

_**Pretend no body's home**_

_**So no one will get near,**_

_**Cause I'm the famous chocolateer.**_

_**Heheh… wow. I have no idea were that came from! I guess that's what I get for reading the raven before I update… **_

Chapter 15

"so we can take her home?" the little boy asked looking up at dr. Marcus with hopeful eyes.

The man smiled. "yes Charlie, you and Mr. Wonka can take her home on one condition."

"ha!" Willy exclaimed triumphantly, "there always a condition Charlie, don't you know that?"

Marcus ignored him. "its actually a very small condition, I doubt that you or Mr.-"

"so what is it"

Here the doctor got a bit nervous and began to look for a way to prolong this. Meanwhile, Willy was getting impatient and began to tap his foot, which didn't help. Just as Charlie was about to prompt the doctor again, Nathan interrupted.

"I have to be with Aleera. I have to come the factory."

If it had gotten any quieter, the occupants of the room would have thought they'd gone deaf.

Charlie looked nervously at Nathan then at Willy, "Willy?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………..(I was Sooooo tempted to stop there, but then I realized that I would be killed for the short chapter as well as the cliff hanger)……………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Willy watched as Mrs. Bucket hurried around Aleera's room with a feather duster. "what are you doing?" he asked completely baffled.

"What does it look like I'm doing Mr. Wonka?" she snapped somewhat irritably.

Willy drew back, "cleaning?" he asked meekly. The woman nodded curtly and continued

about her job. Willy cleared his throat. "Actually I meant why in here"

"Because this is her room."

"well I don't _want_ her in here,"

Mrs. Bucket rose an eyebrow, "and where will she be staying?''

Willy glowered, "do I have to explain _everything_" he murmured before added in a small voice, "in my room?" he glanced hopefully at the woman who tilted her head to the side.

"Well I mean the twit has to stay somewhere and he wants to be close to her and down the hall is close, but I need to be closer so my room is perfect." His voice held a note of triumph.

Mrs. Bucket continued to look at him until he got so uncomfortable that he ran from the room saying that he needed to go invent a forgetful candy.

Mrs. Bucket smiled and moved down the hall to Willy's room. Tomorrow, Aleera was coming home.

…..

Willy watched anxiously as Nathan and Charlie brought Aleera into his room and laid her down on the bed. "Don't drop her," he said quietly when they transferred her from the rolly cot thing (shut up) to the bed.

"If you're that worried about it why don't you help?" snapped Nathan who wasn't too keen to have his sister in this particular room. He looked around with a look of distain etched deep into his face. Did this man have a normal room in the entire place? Did he even know the definition of normal? "I suppose if this is the best room you have…" he let his voice trail away, the slightest trace of a smirk on his face. Casting a slightly worried look at his sister, he bent down and kissed her forehead before turning on his heel and leavening.

Charlie patted willy on the back turned to leave as well. "Don't forget about dinner…my mum made pie fore dessert." Willy gave no response. "It's umm…cherry…you're favorite." Still no reply. "Please remember to eat something" he little boy pleaded before leaving.

Willy stayed in the same spot for a good ten minutes before he lightly brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Wake up Aleera" he pleaded, "please wake up…I need you here."

The silence hung, Aleera didn't move and Willy felt a single tear trickle down his cheek. He hiccoughed as he remembered the last time he said those words to her about two months ago…

_The air in the invention room was thick with the smell of caramel and Willy had no idea as to why. He hadn't been in the room yet this week. The only other person who had had been Charlie who said he hadn't done anything too major, and nothing with caramel. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aleera watching him from the corner of the room. laughing nervously he asked, "what are you doing in here?" hadn't he told her not to come in here?_

_She smiled, "Charlie asked me what my favorite candy was… when I told him, he told me there would be some in here." _

_Willy closed his eyes and counted to ten…twice. "would your favorite candy happen to be caramel." He inquired, very afraid of the answer. When he opened his eyes she nodded slightly, she wasn't smiling any more. _

_Always sensitive to other people's moods, she realized she had done something wrong. Her bottom lip began to tremble, "d-don't be angry… I didn't mean for it to happen." _

_Any self control that Willy had was quickly leaving. "what happened?" he asked hoping he didn't sound too angry. If she began to cry they would get no where._

_She pointed at the everlasting gobstopper tank. Willy cringed…oh god…this was not good._

_Hesitantly, he peeked onto the tank which was now filled with caramel and gobstoppers. Hoe she'd managed to do that, Willy couldn't begin to fathom, which was defiantly saying something. He reached into the tank and pulled out a gobstopper. Casting a glace at the girl (who was very afraid he would begin to scream) he popped the candy into his mouth and looked a bit thoughtful. _

_Aleera began to back away, "I'll just ….go away then" she whispered._

"_No wait!" the candy man called he back "this is actually rather tasty…" he beckoned her over with a wave of his hand. "you should stay…I could use some of your ideas…that is if you have any more"_

_Aleera looked thoughtful then shook her head. "you're Willy Wonka, you shouldn't have to deal with any of my ideas."_

"_Oh but I need your ideas!" _

"_Just my ideas?" she asked catching him off guard._

"_Well…no," he stammered "I need you here. You know… because..."_

"_Because..." she prompted._

_Willy looked at her. _Because I think I love you._ Is what he wanted to say, but as always, the word caught in his throat, so instead he said, "who else can translate what grandma Georgina is saying?"_

_Aleera looked sadly at him, then said "I will see you at dinner then," and left._

_Willy had spent the next hour banging his head against the wall._

Now here he was again, pleading for her to stay. He could almost hear her voice in his mine as she said, "why?"

He took a deep breath and answered. "I need you here" he told the unconscious girl who had stolen his heart, "because I love you."

guess what! That's it… that's the end of the first story, I know I'm sooo evil to end it like that, but that's how I know that you'll read the next one. And that's also how I know I'll get reviews. Even if they are the threatening kind. Oh well. Be on the look out for the second story _I'll answer you in song_


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